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LETTER 


TO 


THE  REV.  ANSEL  D.  EDDY, 

OF  CANANDAIGUA,  N.  Y. 

OIT  THE  NARRATIVE  OF  THE 

LATE  IIBTITALS  OP  RELIGION, 


PRESBYTERY  OF  GENEVA. 


BY  EDWARD  D.  GRIFFIN, 

PRKBIDENT  OF  WILLIAMS  COLLEGE. 


rniNTED  BY  RIDLEY  BANNISTER. 

1832, 


LETTER. 


Williams  College  Aug.  6,  1832. 

Rev.  akd  Dear  Sir, 

I  have  received  and  at- 
tentively read  the  Narrative  of  the  late  Revivals 
of  Religion  in  the  Presbytery  of  Geneva,  drawn 
up  by  a  Committee  of  Presbytery,  and  founded  on 
reports  lYiade  by  the  different  Sessions  in  Februa- 
ry last.  I  have  not  before  had  leisure  to  fulfil  my 
promise  of  sending  you  some  remarks  on  that  Nar- 
rative. It  is  a  noble  paper,  and  exhibits,  in  a  most 
gratifying  and  instructive  manner,  the  mighty  pow- 
er of  God.  That  central  and  elevated  Presbyte- 
ry, we  are  told,  was  never  visited  with  so  great  an 
influence  before  5  an  influence  extending,  with  two 
exceptions,  to  all  the  congregatiorts  supplied  with 
pastors,  and  producing  a  result,  in  less  than  a  year 
and  a  half,  of  twenty  two  hundred  added  to  the 
churches  ;  and  the  work  still  in  glorious  progress 
in  several  congregations  when  the  Narrative  went 
to  press  the  last  of  March. 

This  is  enough  to  show  that  powerful  revivals 
are  not  dependant  oh  the  new  measures,  and  that 
it  is  unjust  to  stigmatize  as  enemies  to  revivals  all 
who  do  not  fall  in  with  these  measures. 


3 

.  It  is  highly  gratifying  to  see  so  large  and  re- 
spectable a  Presbytery,  centrally  located  in  the 
western  part  of  New  York,  take  so  dignified  a 
stand,  with  a  unanimity  almost  unbroken;  and  still 
more  to  see  the  blessed  fruits  of  these  revivals  in 
sixty  or  eighty  youth  studying  for  the  Gospel  mi- 
nistry, and  their  benignant  influence  on  the  cause 
of  temperance  and  sabbath  schools  and  charitable 
contributions.  The  church  in  Castleton,  not  yet 
four  years  old,  and  heretofore  sustained  by  the 
Home  Missionary  Society,  gave  last  year  more 
than  sixty  dollars  for  foreign  missions.  The  church 
in  West  Dresden,  organized  in  1830,  an  equal  sum 
for  the  same  object.  The  church  in  Galen  has 
three  Sabbath  Schools,  a  Tract  Society,  a  large 
Temperance  Society,  a  Bible  Society  which  the 
last  year  supplied  every  destitute  family  in  the 
town,  and  has  given  forty  dollars  for  foreign  mis- 
sions. The  church  in  Penn-Yan  has  formed  "  an 
auxiliary  to  almost  every  benevolent  society  in  the 
land."  The  church  in  East  Bloomfield  gave  the 
last  year  for  different  objects  more  than  nine  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  the  church  in  Geneva  more  than 
forty  seven  hundred  dollars.  A  society  auxiliary 
to  the  A  B  C  F  M  has  just  sprung  up  in  the 
Presbytery,  which  has  contributed  at  once  thirty 
four  hundred  dollars.  In  view  of  these  results 
every  friend  of  revivals  may  kneel  and  look  up 
and  with  a  trickling  tear  thank  the  Author  of  all  be- 
nevolence. 

The  cautious  and  prudent  and  truly  evangelical 


course  which  this  Presbytery  have  pursued,  is  wor- 
thy of  all  praise.  They  have  not  adopted  the  opi- 
nion that  some  of  those  truths  which  Paul  and 
Calvin  and  Watts  and  Edwards  and  Brainerd 
preached,  must  now  be  suppressed,  or  rarely 
taught,  lest  they  should  check  revivals.  ''  In  all 
the  services,"  says  one,  "  a  special  prominence 
was  given  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel."  "  In 
no  year,"  says  another,  "  since  my  connexion  with 
this  church,  have  the  distinguishing  doctrines  of 
the  Gospel  been  so  often  exhibited  and  so  much 
insisted  on  as  during  the  last  year  ;  and  the  divine 
blessing  has  evidently  sanctioned  this  course." 
Another  says  of  his  own  congregation,  "  I  am 
afraid  that  the  sovereign  efficacy  of  divine  grace  and 
the  reason  of  its  necessity  were  presented  with  less 
frequency  and  plainness  than  I  now  think  should 
have  been  done."  And  yet  it  is  testified  by  others 
that  they  were  enforced  there  with  great  frequency 
and  plainness.  The  Committee  say  of  the  whole 
Presbytery,  "  The  doctrines  which  have  held  a 
prominent  place  in  the  preaching  generally,  are  the 
plain  and  humbling  doctrines  of  the  orthodox  faith. 
— These  have  been  exhibited,  not  as  matters  of 
controversy  or  as  problems,  but  as  matters  of  fact 
and  of  faith. — The  doctrine  of  divine  sovereignty 
and  divine  decrees,  the  doctrine  of  election  and  ef- 
fectual calling,  of  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
— have  been  constantly  kept  in  view."  On  the 
other  hand,  one  of  the  Presbytery  tells  us,  "  The 
preaching  was  designed  to  urge  upon  sinners  the 


duty  and  the  reasonableness  of  immediate  repent- 
ance and  the  renunciation  of  every  self- justifying 
excuse."  Another  says,  "  The  means  which  have 
been  owned  and  blessed  of  God  in  promoting  this 
work,  have  been — the  exhibition  of  divine  truth, 
enforcing  the  sinner's  obligation  innnediately  to 
submit  to  God,  keeping  constantly  in  view  the  ne- 
cessity of  the  Spirit's  influences,  and  the  ability 
and  the  obligation  of  the  sinner  to  yield  to  them 
and  to  choose  without  delay  the  Lord  Jesus  as  his 
God  and  Saviour." 

This  is  as  it  should  be.  Though  the  doctrines 
of  sovereignty,  election,  and  dependance  may  be 
disproportionately  urged,  yet  I  have  found  them, 
in  the  revivals  of  forty  years,  of  great  efficacy  in 
causing  the  sinner  to  die  to  all  hope  from  himself 
and  casting  him  wholly  upon  God.  His  obli- 
gations to  immediate  repentance  ought  certainly 
to  be  urged  with  the  most  imperious  decision  ;  but 
to  confine  the  preaching  to  this  and  neglect  the 
other  doctrines,  is  to  turn  the  whole  into  declama- 
tion and  to  encourage  that  destructive  self-depen- 
dance  which  it  ought  to  be  our  constant  labour  to 
oppose.  It  is  in  short  withholding  an  essential 
part  of  that  body  of  truth  which  unitedly  is  "the 
sword  of  the  Spirit." 

That  sword  is  divine  truth  addressed  to  the  un- 
derstanding and  conscience,  and  not  mere  devices 
to  work  on  the  imagination  and  passions.  As  far 
as  divine  truth,  in  all  its  affecting  attitudes  and  re- 
lations, is  calculated  to  move  the  passions,  let  them 


be  moved.  I  would  not  confine  myself  to  cold 
speculations  for  fear  of  moving  the  passions.  They 
were  made  to  be  moved  by  divine  truth.  But  mere 
tricks  which  have  no  other  object  than  to  move 
the  passions,  and  convey  no  light  at  all,  are  to  be 
avoided  as  producing  nothing  but  an  animal  reli- 
gion v/hich  will  fill  the  Church  with  unsanctified 
members,  delude  millions  to  death,  and  bring  for- 
ward multitudes  of  unqualified  pastors  to  turn 
away  the  people  from  the  truth.  A  preacher  who 
feels  authorized  to  address  dry  bones  because  God 
has  commanded  him,  and  who  relies  for  success 
on  nothing  but  the  sovereign  power  of  God,  will 
be  contented  to  present  truth,  in  all  its  nakedness 
and  pungency,  to  the  understanding  and  con^ 
science,  and  there  leave  it,  while  he  retires  to  pray. 
But  he  who  depends  on  no  ally, — who  feels  that 
he  must  accomplish  the  work  alone, — at  least  that 
motives  must  do  the  whole, — will  not  stop  here. 
If  sinners  do  not  submit  at  once,  he  will  go  in 
among  their  passions,  and  seize  their  imagination, 
and  work  upon  their  animal  spirits,  by  every  art  in 
his  power,  until  perhaps  he  has  driven  his  audi- 
ence, not  to  Christ,  but  to  the  wildest  excesses. 
I  am  glad  therefore  to  hear  that  in  yoiu*  Presbyte- 
ry, with  scarcely  an  exception,  there  is  no  calling 
upon  sinners  to  rise  up  in  public  assemblies,  either 
to  desire  prayers  or  to  })roclaim  their  determina- 
tion to  submit  at  once.  Besides  the  power  which 
these  measures  have  over  the  imagination  and  pas- 
sions, (and  which  by  management  jnay  be  indefi- 


nitely  increased,)  they  promote  a  boldness  and  for- 
wardness which  deform  rehgion,  give  an  injurious 
warp  to  the  character,  (especially  of  young  fe- 
males,) and  greatly  encourage  false  hopes.  If 
more  show  is  made  and  greater  numbers  are  count- 
ed, it  is  no  proof  that  more  are  prepared  for  heaven. 

As  might  have  been  expected,  among  you  have 
appeared  few  or  no  disorders.  "  All  the  services," 
says  one,  "  have  been  characterized  by  perfect  or- 
der and  regularity,  both  as  to  time  and  manner. 
No  public  meetings  have  been  continued  after  9 
o'clock  in  the  evening."  "The  meetings,"  says 
another,  "were  characterized  by  great  stillness 
and  solemnity."  "No  irregularities,"  says  a 
third,  "  were  witnessed,  no  crying  out  in  public 
worship,  no  boisterous  expressions  of  joy,  no  au- 
dible sighing  or  groaning."  The  Committee  say 
of  the  whole  Presbytery,  "  The  religious  services 
generally  have  been  orderly,  still,  and  solemn ; 
never  interrupted  by  loud  and  boisterous  expres- 
sions, either  of  grief  or  joy ;  never  rendered  offen- 
sive to  the  ear  of  refinement  by  low  allusions  or 
coarse  and  vulgar  expressions,  nor  painful  to  the 
ear  of  piety  by  an  irreverent  and  affected  familiarity 
with  sacred  things.  No  quaint  and  questionable 
expedients  have  been  resorted  to  for  the  purpose  of 
effect ;  no  audible  praying  of  females  in  promis- 
cuous assemblies." 

While  passionate  and  disorderly  revivals  pro- 
duce fatal  delusions  without  number,  your  Pres- 
bytery have  guarded  with  most  commendable  cau- 


8 

tion  against  false  hopes.     This  they  have  done  in 
three  ways.     First,  by  substituting  knowledge  for 
high  excitement.       "Many,"  says  one,  "whose 
hope  at  first  was  strong  and  sanguine,  were,  on 
being  instructed  in  the  nature  and  evidence  of  a 
change  of  heart,  induced  to  relinquish  their  hope 
entirely,  and  have  since  given  conclusive  evidence 
that  it  was  at  first  but  a  delusion.     This  course  of 
instruction  and  personal  examination  has  in  all 
cases  been  previous  to  their  presenting  themselves 
for  admission  to  the  church."     Secondly,  by  in- 
uring the  subjects  of  the  work  to  reserve  and  hu- 
mility, instead  of  boldness  and  forwardness  and 
rashness,  which  serve  to  hurry  others  into  a  pas- 
sionate, shawy,  headlong  delusion.     Their  exer- 
tions, we  are  told,  were  "  generally  in  a  way  of 
individual  influence.     This  influence  was  exerted, 
not  in  the  public  meeting,  but  in  the  private  inter- 
view.    The  young  converts  did  not  become  ex- 
horters,  nor  arrogate  to  themselves  the  preroga- 
tives of  teachers."     Thirdly^  by  holding  them  off 
for  a  considerable  time  from  a  profession.     Instead 
of  urging  them  forward  in  a  week,  under  all  the 
excitements  of  the  recent   change,  the  churches 
have  kept  them  back  "  in  most  cases  for  two  or 
three  months."     I  wish  it  had  been  said,  for  three 
months  as  a  settled  rule. 

As  a  consequence  of  all  this  caution,  we  are  told 
by  more  than  one,  the  subjects  of  the  work  wear 
well. 

In  these  matters  much  depends  on  using  Ian- 


guao  e  according  to  truth  and  calling  things  by  their 
right  names.  In  some  places  it  has  become  com- 
mon to  speak  of  conversions  with  a  confidence 
which  hides  the  deceitfulness  of  the  heart  and  as- 
sumes that  every  apparent  change  is  real.  They 
say,  Such  a  man  was  converted  on  such  a  day ; 
so  many  were  converted  at  such  a  meeting.  In 
this  Narrative  a  more  cautious  language  for  the 
most  part  is  used.  I  wish  it  had  been  uniform. 
In  a  still  more  important  respect  your  language  is 
highly  exemplary.  With  you  there  are  no  anxious 
meetings  or  anxious  rooms  or  anxious  seats. 
This  is  not  a  point  of  mere  grammatical  criticism ; 
it  involves  the  honour  of  revivals  and  the  salvation 
of  men.  Let  a  low  and  barbarous  cant  be  gene- 
rally connected  with  revivals,  and  you  drive  men  of 
learning  and  taste  from  them  and  plunge  them  in 
perdition.  This  slang  of  anxious  meetings  and  the 
like,  is  an  unwarrantable  departure  from  the  ana- 
logy of  the  language.  In  no  other  case  do  we 
denominate  a  meeting  from  the  internal  feelings  of 
its  members  ;  (we  do  not  say  a  repenting  meeting, 
or  a  believing  meeting,  or  a  rejoicing  meeting  5) 
nor  do  we  name  a  meeting  even  from  the  outward 
marks  of  its  members ;  (we  do  not  say  a  white 
meeting,  or  a  handsome  meeting,  or  a  homely 
meeting  5)  but  we  take  the  appellation  from  the 
business  done  at  the  meeting.  Thus  we  say  a 
prayer  meeting,  a  conference  meeting,  a  singing 
meeting,  a  missionary  meeting.  And  in  the  pre- 
sent case  we  ought  to  say  an  mquiry  meeting  ;  not 


10 

an  inquiring  meeting ;  that  is  like  praying-  meet- 
ino",  conferring  meeting.  We  are  obliged  to  say 
singing  meeting,  because  we  have  no  other  word 
to  employ. 

It  is  a  subject  of  heartfelt  congratulation  that 
your  distinguished  Presbytery  do  not  give  up  their 
depen^ance  on  Ged  for  holiness  and  cast  them- 
selves on  an  arm  of  flesh.  Christians,  says  one  of 
them,  "  manifested  a  deep  sense  of  their  depen- 
dance  and  unworthiness.  In  the  early  stages  of 
the  work,  and  while  the  church  seemed  relying  on 
an  arm  of  flesh,  a  desire  was  expressed  by  some 
to  call  in  the  aid  of  some  itinerant  evangelist,  and 
that  a  course  of  measures  might  be  introduced 
which  had  been  said  to  hare  been  employed  with 
success  in  other  places.  But  the  people  of  God 
were  soon  brought  to  see  and  to  feel  that  in  God 
alone  was  their  hope ;  and  no  wish  was  afterwards 
expressed  for  any  other  means  than  the  means  of 
God's  own  appointment,  nor  any  other  aid  than  the 
aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  Says  another,  "There 
was  indeed  much  conversation  about  a  revival  pre- 
vious to  this,  and  a  solicitude  was  often  expressed 
to  call  in  such  foreign  aid  as  some  imagined  would 
secure  the  desired  result.  At  one  period  the  solici- 
tude on  this  subject  was  considerable :  but  in  all  this 
it  could  be  distinctly  seen  that  there  was  little  or 
nothing  of  that  deep  self  abasement,  that  humility 
and  dependance  upon  God  alone,  which  are  ordi- 
narily the  first  indications  of  a  work  of  grace. 
They  did  not  go  directly  to  the  throne  of  God,  and 


11 

with  the  Psahiiist  exclaim,  '  Wilt  thou  not  revive 
us  again  that  thy  people  may  rejoice  in  thee  V  hut 
there  was  manifestly  an  unwarrantable  reliance  up- 
on an  arm  of  flosli.  It  was  goin^  '  down  to  Egypt 
for  help,  staying  upon  horses  and  trusting  in  cha- 
riots,' instead  of  looking  Ho  the  Holy  One  of  Is- 
rael and  trusting  in  the  Lord.'  And  it  was  not  un- 
til all  expectations  of  this  description  were  cut  oftj 
and  the  church  brought  to  realize  that  all  their 
strength  was  in  God,  and  all  their  hope  was  in  his 
mercy,  that  tlie  work  of  divine  grace  actually  com- 
menced." 

In  the  same  spirit  the  Committee  say,  *'•  In  some 
instances  the  labour  of  itinerants  was  employed, 
but,  (with  few  exceptions,)  with  no  very  obvious 
success.  Seldom  perhaps  has  the  case  been 
known  in  which  God  "has  so  obviously  honoured 
the  means  of  his  own  appointment,  in  distinction 
from  those  of  human  invention,  and  the  labours  oi' 
a  stated  ministry,  in  distinction  from  those  of  itine- 
rant evangelists."  In  "  a  few"  of  the  churches 
tlie  new  measures  were  attempted.  *■'•  These 
churches  however  were,  with  perhaps  one  excep- 
tion, without  pastors,  and  the  innovations"  were 
"  introduced  by  itinerant  preachers  who  do  not  be- 
long to  this  Presbytery.  But  few  if  any  of  these 
innovations  ar(^  now  regarded  as  improvemeiils  : 
and  facts  have  shown  that  generally,  if  not  univer™ 
sally,  the  revivals  have  been  the  most  powerful,  oi' 
the  longest  continuance,  and  most  desirable  in  their 
results,  in  those  places  where  there  has  been  the 


12 

least  departure  from  the  ordinary  methods  of  con- 
ducting revivals  in  the  Presbyterian  Church."  In 
one  congregation  where  the  new  measures  were 
introduced^k  "  ^ince  the  revival  the  state  of  religion 
— has  beert  on  the  decline,  and  there  is  much  to  be 
deplored  in  the  present  state  of  things." 

1  fear  this  will  be  the  effect  of  those  measures 
in  every  place  where  ignorance  prevails.  I  have 
long  hesitated  to  express  this  opinion  lest  I  should 
be  found  fighting  against  God.  But  events  have 
fixed  my  judgment,  and  pressed  rtie  with  the  obli- 
gation to  declare  it  openly,  earnestly,  and  continu- 
ally. My  daily  prayer  is  that  I  may  not  feel  un- 
charitably towards  my  brethren  who  differ  from 
me.  I  think  I  do  net :  and  certainly  nothing  shall 
extort  from  me  railing  or  recriminating  language  ; 
for  there  is  no  better  evidence  of  a  bad  cause  than 
that  it  is  supported  by  an  unchristian  and  unman- 
■crly  style.     I  am. 

Dear  Sir, 
With  sincere  regard. 

Your  friend  and  brother. 

E.  D.  GRIFFIN. 
Sev.  ANSEL  D.  EDBT. 


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